We come to art from various locations. Some are out for a stroll, stumbling upon objects that grab their attention. Others are equipped with guidebooks, methodically approaching and regularly revisiting both actual and virtual works. Still other viewers revel in the familiar, remaining attentive to the details and information that cement life-long friendships.

African art is no different. For some, it may initially hold few clues that help unpack its meaning. Those viewers may have little knowledge of Africa or could actually be African–from a different part of the continent, a totally different culture, or members of a religion that distances them even from a work their own hometown produced.

This book aims to act as your map through the world of African art. As such, it will help you define the competencies you need to develop–visual analysis, research, noting what information is critical, asking questions, and writing down your observations–and provide opportunities for you to practice these skills until you are proficient. It will also expose you to new art forms and the worlds that produced them, enriching your understanding and appreciation.

(Book Author: Kathy Curnow)

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Acknowledgments

Dedication

1: Orientation to Africa and its Art

1.1: General Introduction

1.2: Gender, Materials, Techniques in Traditional Art

1.3: Training and Patronage in Traditional Art

1.4: Contemporary African Art: Materials, Gender and Training

1.5: Patronage in Contemporary African Art

3: Themes in African Art

3.1: Animals

3.2: Coupling Up

3.3: Motherhood

3.4: Art and Youth Initiation

3.5: Art and Medicine

3.6: Art and Divination

3.7: Art and Death

3.8: Portraiture

3.9: African Art as Inspiration

4: The Impact of Religion and Hierarchy on African Art

4.1: Traditional Religion and Art

4.2: Christianity and Art

4.3: Islam and Art

4.4: Art in Nomadic Societies

4.5: Art in Small-Scale Communities

4.6: Kingdom-based art

2: Analyzing and Discussing African Art

2.1: Elements of Design

2.2: Principles and Considerations of Design

2.3: “Rules” for Traditional African Art

2.4: Stylistic Analysis

2.5: Contextual Analysis

Back Matter

Index

Glossary

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The central purpose of this collection of essays is to make a creative addition to the debates surrounding the cultural heritage domain. In the 21st century the world faces epochal changes which affect every part of society, including the arenas in which cultural heritage is made, held, collected, curated, exhibited, or simply exists. The book is about these changes; about the decentring of culture and cultural heritage away from institutional structures towards the individual; about the questions which the advent of digital technologies is demanding that we ask and answer in relation to how we understand, collect and make available cultural heritage. Cultural heritage has enormous potential in terms of its contribution to improving the quality of life for people, understanding the past, assisting territorial cohesion, driving economic growth, opening up employment opportunities and supporting wider developments such as improvements in education and in artistic careers. Given that spectrum of possible benefits to society, the range of studies that follow here are intended to be a resource and stimulus to help inform not just professionals in the sector but all those with an interest in cultural heritage.

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The basis of this inquiry is how the visual arts contribute to positive social change. Finding Voice represents the notion that the visual arts are an expression of the aspirations of people in their hope for a more just and democratic society. It emphasizes the power and potential of collective voice in the visual portrayal of historical injustice and the envisioning of a new paradigm in which to move forward. This book, then, values the notion of voice as key to agency and the responsibility to act.

The specific focus of this book, in post-apartheid South Africa, necessitates a multidisciplinary approach straddling the fields of arts education and developmental studies and requires examination of the sociological, political, historical and cultural aspects of society. As there is no comfortable disciplinary home for such an investigation, this book crosses disciplinary boundaries, drawing on diverse concepts and understandings in order to enable the creation of a space that is able to explore, invent, imagine, or reject certain traditional notions. These concepts are akin to the practice of art-making, in that they can question the “givens” and imagine new possibilities. In this way, art, or visual voice, can be a pathway to navigate transformative ways of becoming. 

The following questions animate my inquiry: 

1. How can creative strategies respond to imperatives for democratic change? 

2. How can collectives organized around creative activity effectively respond to social trauma?

3. To what extent do current government institutions impede or facilitate art and culture in fulfilling potentially transformative social roles?

Finding Voice values co-creation, community participation, and citizen action.

The stories contained in this book have the potential to anchor socially transformative practices that expand capacities for effective work in development and arts education.

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This textbook offers a comprehensive introduction to the world of Art. Authored by four USG faculty members with advance degrees in the arts, this textbook offers up-to-date original scholarship. It includes over 400 high-quality images illustrating the history of art, its technical applications, and its many uses. Combining the best elements of both a traditional textbook and a reader, it introduces such issues in art as its meaning and purpose; its structure, material, and form; and its diverse effects on our lives. Its digital nature allows students to follow links to applicable sources and videos, expanding the students’ educational experiences beyond the textbook. Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning provides a new and free alternative to traditional textbooks, making it an invaluable resource in our modern age of technology and advancement.

Contents (summary):

Ch. 1: What is Art?  

Ch. 2: The Structure of Art  

Ch. 3: Significance of Materials Used in Art  

Ch. 4: Describing Art  

Ch. 5: Meaning in Art  

Ch. 6: Connecting Art to Our Lives

Ch. 7: Form in Architecture  

Ch. 8: Art and Identity  

Ch. 9: Art and Power  

Ch. 10: Art and Ritual Life

Ch. 11: Art and Ethics 

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Ruth Finnegan’s Oral Literature in Africa was first published in 1970, and since then has been widely praised as one of the most important books in its field. Based on years of fieldwork, the study traces the history of storytelling across the continent of Africa.

This revised edition makes Finnegan’s ground-breaking research available to the next generation of scholars. It includes a new introduction, additional images and an updated bibliography, as well as its original chapters on poetry, prose, "drum language" and drama, and an overview of the social, linguistic and historical background of oral literature in Africa. Oral Literature in Africa has been accessed by hundreds of readers in over 60 different countries, including , , and numerous other African countries.

This volume is complemented by original recordings of stories and songs from the Limba country (Sierra Leone), collected by Finnegan during her fieldwork in the late 1960s, which are are hosted by the World Oral Literature Project and are freely accessible here.

This book is part-funded by an Unglue.it campaign.             

REVIEWS:

What is significant about this revised, online edition is that it makes this ground-breaking, seminal work freely available to all who want to use it. This is particularly significant for the African scholar living in an increasingly technologized society on a continent where academics often remain on the periphery of a society consumed by emerging capitalism and political uncertainty. African academics, their universities and libraries are largely under-resourced and can often not afford to purchase hard copies of books. Making this book freely available therefore returns it back to its people on the ground, back to its original home, which underpins the fieldwork represented in the volume. It is now available for the next generation of researchers who will emerge through being influenced by this technologized version of the book.

—Russell H. Kaschula, Journal of African Cultural Studies, (2013) Volume 25/1, 141-44.

In ‘Oral Literature in Africa’, Ruth Finnegan explores themes common to anthropology, linguistics and sociology, debunking commonly held conceptions of the time and reestablishing the relevance of studying the oral arts of Africa with as much rigour as any other form of artistic expression.

—Book review at http://manenomatamu.wordpress.com/tag/ruth-finnegan/

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This textbook offers a comprehensive introduction to the world of Art. Authored by four USG faculty members with advance degrees in the arts, this textbook offers up-to-date original scholarship. It includes over 400 high-quality images illustrating the history of art, its technical applications, and its many uses. Combining the best elements of both a traditional textbook and a reader, it introduces such issues in art as its meaning and purpose; its structure, material, and form; and its diverse effects on our lives. Its digital nature allows students to follow links to applicable sources and videos, expanding the students’ educational experiences beyond the textbook. Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning provides a new and free alternative to traditional textbooks, making it an invaluable resource in our modern age of technology and advancement.

Contents page (summary):

Title

Foreward

Preface

Acknowledgements 

I. The Artist

• 1. Introduction

• 2. Your Artistry and Values

II. The Community

• 4. Your Audience

• 5. Funders and Other Partners

III. The Creative Project

• 6. Project Descriptions

• 7. Project Budgets

• 8. Project Timelines

• 9. Project Viability

• 10. Make It Happen

References

Glossary

About the Artists

About the Team

About the Peabody Institute

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The title of this book is Speaking of Culture and its purpose is to define culture and many other concepts associated with it. My hope is that the readings in this book will help you to better understand the breadth of the concept of culture and provide you with a vocabulary for discussing it more articulately.

Culture is one of those broad concepts that is used widely, although somewhat imprecisely, in everyday English. It also cuts across many academic disciplines, and this book draws on many of them. It touches, for instance, on anthropology, biology, history, mythology, political science, psychology, and sociology. 

Despite the ease with which we use the term, culture is not a simple concept. The primary purpose of this book is to promote a better understanding of the scope of the idea. 

[Book Author: Nolan Weil]

Contents page:

A Note to Students

Introduction

Main Body

Chapter 1: What is Culture?

Chapter 2: The Human Family

Chapter 3: Origins and Early Developments of Culture

Chapter 4: Material Culture

Chapter 5: Culture as Thought and Action

Chapter 6: Beliefs, Values, and Cultural Universals

Chapter 7: Group Membership and Identity

Chapter 8: Religion and Culture

Chapter 9: Roots of American National Culture 

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